ASHCOTT LOCAL HISTORY GROUP
ALL SAINTS’ PARISH CHURCH ASHCOTT
WORLD WAR 1 MEMORIAL
A brass memorial plaque on the wall at the entrance to the chancel records the names of fourteen men of Ashcott who died serving in the armed forces during the First World War.
At the approach of the centenary anniversary of the start of the ‘War to end all Wars’it would be fitting to place those men in their time leading up to their involvement in the conflict.
The youngest to die was 19 years old, the oldest was 40, a married man who enlisted in the Canadian Army having previously decided on a new life in Canada. Two other Ashcott men had made the same decision to emigrate to Canada before the War and they also returned to die on the Western Front. Two of the other casualties were brothers.
This study has attempted to go behind the names on the Memorial and place them with their families, follow them through their education, and then observe them as they grew to manhood in the local community in and around Ashcott.
For some of the men it has been difficult to assemble a complete picture of their lives. The links with Ashcott are in some cases tenuous. Birth and marriage registers, school log books, Census returns all help to provide a framework but the study has attempted to go further and to place them in Ashcott and elsewhere in the opening years of the 20th Century.
It is hoped that the study will increase the awareness of the loss to the village and bring forward more information which will extend our knowledge of these men.
The names of the men on the Memorial are:
HUBERT WILFRED LABDON was also a casualty of the War and is buried in the churchyard. He is not included on the Memorial but his war record is deserving of his inclusion.
Please click on each name or see the drop down menues attached to this page, for details of each man.
David Jones. January 2011